Patrick JungHochschule Kaiserslautern · Integrative Biotechnology
Patrick Jung
Postdoctoral Researcher
PI of Grit Life (Atacama, DFG), INCb (network on unicellular lichen symbionts) and Carl-Zeiss-Foundation projects.
About
51
Publications
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Introduction
My focal point of interest are cryptogamic ground covers which are also known as biological soils crusts. I'm investigating the microbial diversity they come along with in terms of cyanobacteria, green algae, lichens and fungi. As a taxonomist I'm combining classical culture approachs and the curation of algal isolates with modern sequencing techniques. Besides taxonomic methods I'm also interested in the ecophysiology of these organisms and their bioweathering activity in the Atacama Desert.
Additional affiliations
August 2016 - May 2019
Position
- PhD Student
Description
- I did my phd in the frame of the DFG SPP 'EarthShape - Earth Surface Shaping by Biota'. I investigated the diversity, ecophysiology and bioweathering activity of green algae, lichens and cyanobacteria in the Atacama Desert, Chile.
Education
June 2014 - June 2016
Field of study
- Ecology and microbial Biodiversity
March 2011 - May 2014
Publications
Publications (51)
Neltuma alba (Algarrobo blanco), Neltuma chilensis (Algarrobo Chileno) and Strombocarpa strombulifera (Fortuna) are some of the few drought resistant trees and shrubs found in small highly fragmented populations, throughout the Atacama Desert. We reconstructed their plastid genomes using de novo assembly of paired-end reads from total genomic DNA....
Lichens are remarkable and classic examples of symbiotic organisms that have fascinated scientists for centuries. Yet, it has only been for a couple of decades that significant advances have focused on the diversity of their green algal and/or cyanobacterial photobionts. Cyanolichens, which contain cyanobacteria as their photosynthetic partner, inc...
The lichen Lobaria pulmonaria was chosen to showcase the option a new direct PCR approach offers for cryptogams.
Molecular sequence data have transformed research on cryptogams (e.g., lichens, microalgae, fungi, and symbionts thereof) but methods are still strongly hampered by the small size and intermingled growth of the target organisms, poor cultivability and detrimental effects of their secondary metabolites. Here, we aim to showcase examples on which a m...
The transformation of modern industries towards enhanced sustainability is facilitated by green technologies that rely extensively on rare earth elements (REEs) such as cerium (Ce), neodymium (Nd), terbium (Tb), and lanthanum (La). The occurrence of productive mining sites, e.g., is limited, and production is often costly and environmentally harmfu...
Over the decades our understanding of lichens has shifted to the fact that they are multiorganis-mic, symbiotic microecosystems, with their complex interactions coming to the fore due to recent advances in microbiomics. Here, we present a mutualistic-parasitic continuum dynamics scenario between an orange lichen and a lichenicolous fungus from the...
Microscopic cross section of a cyanolichen with Nostoc as cyanobiont
Deserts represent an extreme challenge for photosynthetic life. Despite their aridity, they are often inhabited by diverse microscopic communities of cyanobacteria. These organisms are commonly found in lithic habitats, where they are partially sheltered from extremes of temperature and UV radiation. However, living under the rock surface imposes a...
Neltuma alba (Algarrobo blanco), Neltuma chilensis (Algarrobo Chileno) and Strombocarpa strombulifera (Fortuna) are some of the few trees found in small highly fragmented populations, throughout the Atacama Desert, indicating their drought resistance. We found that the complete chloroplast genomes of N. alba and N. chilensis are larger in size comp...
Some deserts on Earth such as the Namib or the Atacama are influenced by fog which can lead to the formation of local fog oases-unique environments hosting a great diversity of specialized plants and lichens. Lichens of the genera Ramalina, Niebla or Het-erodermia have taxonomically been investigated from fog oases around the globe but not from the...
This AlgaeHighlight article puts an emphasis on the benefits provided by the novel curated metabarcoding database CyanoSeq.
In a world threatened by climate change and biodiversity loss, Chile is one of the leading countries regarding national park management and nature conservation. While there are already protection strategies for plants and animals, it is now the time to include biocrusts, the microbial world at our feet that covers large parts of the soils from the...
This poster shows gives an overview about the state of knowledge about calcification in cyanobacteria. We sum up theories adressing physiological advantages as well as molecular mechniams resulting in biogenic calcification. We focus on the cyanobacterium Scytonema julianum, isolated from a cave in Cantabria, Spain. The poster was presented during...
Biosorption of metal ions by phototrophic microorganisms is regarded as a sustainable and alternative method for bioremediation and metal recovery. In this study, 12 cyanobacterial strains, including 7 terrestrial and 5 aquatic cyanobacteria, covering a broad phylogenetic diversity were investigated for their potential application in the enrichment...
Subterranean environments on Earth serve as an analog for the study of microbes on other planets, which has become an active area of research. Although it might sound contradictory that photosynthetic cyanobacteria thrive in extreme low light environments, they are frequent inhabitants of caves on Earth. Throughout the phylum these cyanobacteria ha...
The grit crust is a recently discovered, novel type of biocrust made of prokaryotic cyanobacteria, eukaryotic green algae, fungi, lichens and other microbes that grow around and within granitoid stone pebbles of about 6 mm diameter in the Coastal Range of the Atacama Desert, Chile. The microbial community is very well adapted towards the extreme co...
Photosynthetically active prokaryotic cyanobacteria as well as eukaryotic microalgae, including green algae and diatoms frequently colonizing the top soil environment, group as soil algae. This taxonomically diverse group fulfils important ecological functions including carbon and nitrogen fixation, bio-weathering activities and various microbial i...
This poster shows initial results about the biodiversity of cyanobacteria from a cave in Cantabria, Spain and was presented at the 22nd Symposium of the International Association of Cyanophyte/Cyanobacteria Research at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Science, České Budějovice, Czech Republic in August 2022.
The ability to adapt to wide ranges of environmental conditions coupled with their long evolution has allowed cyanobacteria to colonize almost every habitat on Earth. Modern taxonomy tries to track not only this diversification process but also to assign individual cyanobacteria to specific niches. It was our aim to work out a potential niche conce...
Cyanobakterien, Grünalgen und Flechten sind uralte Pionierorganismen. Auch in Wüsten können sie Fuß fassen, selbst wenn vermeintlich kein Wasser zur Verfügung
steht, um Photosynthese zu betreiben. Wie perfekt sie an das Leben in der AtacamaWüste Chiles angepasst sind und welche Strategien sie entwickelt haben, um an das benötigte Wasser und ausreic...
The last decades of research led to a change in understanding of lichens that are
now seen as self-sustaining micro-ecosystems, harboring diverse microbial organisms
in tight but yet not fully understood relationships. Among the diverse interdependencies,
the relationship between the myco- and photobiont is the most crucial, determining the
shape,...
Unicellular cyanobacteria inhabit a wide range of ecosytems and can be found throughout
the phylum offering space for taxonomic confusion. One example is strain PCC 6712 that
was described as Chlorogloea sp. (Nostocales) and later assigned to the genus Chroococcidiopsis (Chroococcidiopsidales). We now show that this strain belongs to the order Pleu...
The taxonomy of coccoid cyanobacteria, such as Chroococcidiopsis, Pleurocapsa, Chroococcus, Gloeothece, Gloeocapsa, Gloeocapsopsis, and the related recent genera Sinocapsa and Aliterella, can easily be intermixed when solely compared on a morphological basis. There is still little support on the taxonomic position of some of the addressed genera, a...
Rock surfaces provide a challenging habitat for a broad diversity of micro- or small-sized organisms. They interact with each other forming complex communities as well with their substrate causing biodeterioration of rock. Extreme fluctuation in light, temperature and hydration are the main factors that determine the rock surface habitats. The habi...
Since 1965 a cyanobacterial strain termed ‘Fischerella ambigua 108b’ was the object of several studies investigating its potential as a resource for new bioactive compounds in several European institutes. Over decades these investigations uncovered several unique small molecules and their respective biosynthetic pathways, including the polychlorina...
Bioweathering mediated by microorganisms plays a significant role in biogeochemical cycles on global scales over geological timescales. Single processes induced by specific taxa have been described but could rarely be demonstrated for complex communities that dominate whole landscapes. The recently discovered grit crust of the coastal Atacama Deser...
Biocrusts are associations of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in the top millimeters of soil, which can be found in every climate zone on Earth. They stabilize soils and introduce carbon and nitrogen into this compartment. The worldwide occurrence of biocrusts was proven by numerous studies in Europe, Africa, Asia and North Americ...
The polyphasic approach has been widely applied in cyanobacterial taxonomy which frequently led to additions to the species inventory. Increasing our knowledge about species and the habitats they were isolated from enables new insights into the ecology of newly established genera and species allowing speculations about the ecological niche of taxa....
Zusammenfassung
de Trotz ihrer widrigen Umweltbedingungen und geografischen Isolation beherbergt die Antarktis eine reiche Vegetation aus Flechten, Moosen, Algen, Pilzen und Bakterien. In den milderen Gebieten der maritimen und kontinentalen Antarktis bilden diese Pionierarten weithin sichtbare biologische Bodenkrusten. In trockeneren Gebieten komm...
Gale Crater was an ancient Martian lake that has periodically filled with water and which may still provide a watery environment conducive to the proliferation and fossilization of a wide range of organisms, especially algae. To test this hypothesis and to survey the Martian landscape, over 3,000 photographs from NASA's rover Curiosity Gale Crater...
Cover image of Geobiology, January 2020 Volume 18 Issue 1: Two granitoid grits (approximately 6 mm in length) concatenated by various lichens, cyanobacteria and microfungi that form together the grit crust, a novel and landscape filling biocenosis from the coastal Atacama Desert. Image courtesy of Patrick Jung
The Atacama Desert is the driest non‐polar desert on Earth, presenting precarious conditions for biological activity. In the arid coastal belt, life is restricted to areas with fog events that cause almost daily wet–dry cycles. In such an area, we discovered a hitherto unknown and unique ground covering biocenosis dominated by lichens, fungi, and a...
In the Atacama Desert, cyanobacteria grow on various substrates such as soils (edaphic) and quartz or granitoid stones (lithic). Both, edaphic and lithic cyanobacterial communities have been described but no comparison between both communities of the same locality has yet been undertaken. In the present study we compared both cyanobacterial communi...
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest and probably oldest deserts on Earth where only a few extremophile organisms are able to survive. This study investigated two terricolous and two epiphytic lichens from the fog oasis “Las Lomitas” within the National Park Pan de Azúcar which represents a refugium for a few vascular desert plants and many lich...
This poster illustrates the lichen flora of the National Park Pan de Azucar. The National Park is situated in a fog oasis of the Atacama Desert where fog and dew are the main water sources on which a high but mainly unstudied lichen diversity thrives. The poster is placed at the interpretation center of CONAF at the entrance of the National Park an...
Biodiversity of phototrophic microorganisms in South American biological soil crusts (BSCs) and their role in the biogeochemical phosphorus (P)-cycle are unknown. Richness of BSC green algae and cyanobacteria was investigated at four climatically different Chilean sites (arid, semi-arid, Mediterranean, humid). Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S),...
Cyanobacteria of biological soil crusts (BSCs) represent an important part of circumpolar
and Alpine ecosystems, serve as indicators for ecological condition and climate
change, and function as ecosystem engineers by soil stabilization or carbon and nitrogen
input. The characterization of cyanobacteria from both polar regions remains
extremely impo...
The effects of climate and topography on soil physico-chemical and microbial parameters were studied along an extensive latitudinal climate gradient in the Coastal Cordillera of Chile (26° - 38°S). The study sites encompass arid (Pan de Azúcar), semiarid (Santa Gracia), mediterranean (La Campana) and humid (Nahuelbuta) climates and vegetation, rang...
The Atacama Desert represents the driest place on Earth and probably the oldest desert, with an hyperarid core highly adverse to the development of vegetation [1]. Besides high solar radiation and a broad temperature amplitude almost down till freezing, access to water is the most critical point for life. Whereas precipitation is stated as less tha...
Biological soil crusts (BSC) encompassing green algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, heterotrophic bacteria and microfungi are keystone species in arid environments because of their role in nitrogen-and carbon-fixation, weathering and soil stabilization, all depending on the photosynthesis of the BSC. Despite their importance, little is known...
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are key components of polar ecosystems. These complex communities are important for terrestrial polar habitats as they include major primary producers that fix nitrogen, prevent soil erosion and can be regarded as indicators for climate change. To study the genus richness of microalgae and Cyanobacteria in BSCs, two di...
Where climatic conditions are harsh or disturbances reduce common plant coverage, biological soil crusts (BSCs) are established. These BSCs are groups of photosynthetic organisms like algae, mosses and lichens, that live within and on top of soil surfaces and co-occur with bacteria and fungi. This article illustrates with comics and sketches major...
Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to exopolysaccharides (EPSs) excreted by cyanobacterial and green algal communities, the pioneers and main primary producers in these habitats. These BSCs provide and influence many ecosystem services such as soil erodibility, soil formation and nitr...
The Atacama Desert is well known for the high occurrence of large-scale fog (spatial extents: hundreds of kilometers) emerging as low stratus (LST) decks over the Pacific Ocean. By contrast, the small-scale and heterogeneous occurrence of small-scale fog (hundreds of meters) particularly during summers is widely unconsidered. However, these events...
Biological soil crusts are ecologically important communities in areas where vascular plant coverage is low, and their presence is often vital in prevention of soil erosion. Despite recurrent threats to biological soil crusts across different environments, their recovery after disturbance has been little studied. We therefore established experiment...
Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to exopolysaccharides (EPS), excreted by cyanobacterial and green algal communities, the pioneers and main producers in these habitats. These BSCs provide and influence many ecosystem services such as soil erodibility, soil formation and Nitrogen- (N...
Cryptogamic species such as lichens are almost undescribed from the hyperarid Atacama Desert in Chile where fog water deposition and dewfall are their single water sources. We elucidated the photosynthetic activity paterns of crustose and epiphytic chlorolichens depending on different water sources (high relative air humidity vs. liquid water). Bes...
Questions
Questions (2)
I'm looking for a company where I can buy pestles or potter sticks to crush samples in microcentrifuge tubes/pcr tubes. I can only fing potter sticks for 1.5 mL tubes.
I'm working on a diverse saxicolous lichen community that grows on stones. These lichens are accompanied by lichenicolous/parasit fungi which have dark hyphae based on their melanin rich cells. I would like to visually examine the degree of parasitism/lichenicolous fungi. Are there any ideas about how to resolve this based on hyperspectral/multispectral analyses? Would it be possible to spray a dye or something in the field on the lichens to stain the parasites/lichenicolous fungi?
